Study On Juvenile Psychopaths- Essay, Research Paper

Study on Juvenile Psychopaths-

What is the “super predator”? He or she are young

hypercriminals who are committing acts of violence of unprecedented

coldness and brutality. This newest phenomena in the world of crime is

perhaps the most dangerous challenge facing society and law

enforcement ever. While psychopaths are not new, this breed of super

criminal exceeds the scope of psychopathic behavior. They are younger,

more brutal, and completely unafraid of the law. While current

research on the super predator is scarce, I will attempt to give an

indication as to the reasons a child could become just such a monster.

Violent teenage criminals are increasingly vicious. John

DiIulio, Professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Princeton

University, says that “The difference between the juvenile criminals

of the 1950s and those of the 1970s and early 1980s was the difference

between the Sharks and the Jets of West Side Story and the Bloods and

the Crips. It is not inconceivable that the demographic surge of the

next ten years will bring with it young criminals who make the Bloods

and the Crips look tame.” (10) They are what Professor DiIulio and

others call urban “super predators”; young people, often from broken

homes or so-called dysfunctional families, who commit murder, rape,

robbery, kidnapping, and other violent acts. These emotionally damaged

young people, often are the products of sexual or physical abuse. They

live in an aimless and violent present; have no sense of the past and

no hope for the future; they commit unspeakably brutal crimes against

other people, often to gratify whatever urges or desires drive them at

the moment and their utter lack of remorse is shocking.(9)

Studies reveal that the major cause of violent crime is not

poverty but family breakdown – specifically, the absence of a father

in the household. Today, right now, one-fourth of all the children in

the United States are living in fatherless homes – this adds up to 19

million children without fathers. Compared to children in two parent

family homes, these children will be twice as likely to drop out of

school, twice as likely to have children out of wedlock, and they

stand more than three times the chance of ending up in poverty, and

almost ten times more likely to commit violent crime and ending up in

jail. (1)

The Heritage Foundation – a Conservative think tank – reported

that the rise in violent crime over the past 30 years runs directly

parallel to the rise in fatherless families. In every state in our

country, according to the Heritage foundation, the rate for juvenile

crime “is closely linked to the percentage of children raised in

single-parent families. And while it has long been thought that

poverty is the primary cause of crime, the facts simply do not support

this view. Teenage criminal behavior has its roots in habitual

deprivation of parental love and affection going back to early

infancy, according to the Heritage Foundation.

A father’s attention to his son has enormous positive effects

on a boy’s emotional and social development. But a boy abandoned by

his father in deprived of a deep sense of personal security, In a

well-functioning family,” he continued, “the very presence of the

father embodies authority” and this paternal authority “is critical to

the prevention of psychopathology and delinquency.” (2)

On top of the problem of single parent homes, is the problem

of the children whose behavioral problems are linked to their mothers’

crack use during pregnancy. These children are reaching their teenage

years and this is “a potentially very aggressive population,”

according to Sheldon Greenberg, director of Johns Hopkins University’s

Police Executive Leadership Program. What’s more, drug use has more

than doubled among 12- to 17-year-olds since 1991. “The overwhelming

common factor that can be isolated in determining whether young people

will be criminal in their behavior is moral poverty,” Greenberg says.

(3)

According to the recently published “Body Count: Moral Poverty

. . . and How to Win America’ s War Against Crime and Drugs,” a new

generation of “super-predators, ” untouched by any moral inclinations,

will hit America’s streets in the next decade. John DiIulio, the

Brookings Institute fellow who co-wrote the book with William Bennett

and John Walters, calls it a “multi variate phenomenon, ” meaning that

child abuse, the high number of available high-tech guns, alcoholism

and many other factors feed the problem. University of Pennsylvania

professor Mavin Wolfgang says, “6 percent to 7 percent of the boys in

an age group will be chronic offenders, meaning they are arrested five

or more times before the age of 18.” If that holds true, because there

will be 500,000 more boys ages 14 to 17 in the year 2000 than there

were in 1995, there will be at least 30,000 more youth criminals on

the streets. Between 1990 and 2010, there will be 4.5 million more

boys, yielding 270,000 young criminals.

“The big destruction happens early,” Heritage Foundation

fellow Pat Fagan says. “By the age of 4 or 5, the kid is really

warped. Psychologists can predict by the age of 6 who’ll be the

super-predators.” According to Fagan: Child abuse and alcohol ruin

these children. But the groundwork was laid three decades ago with the

widespread adoption of birth control, which made the sexual revolution

possible. It altered people’s dedication to their children and altered

a fundamental orientation of society. Sexual morality got unanchored

in the 1960s, followed by the legalization of abortion.

“Abortion is a very definite rejection of the child. So is

out-of- wedlock births, as well as divorce,” he says. “The [predators]

everyone’ s afraid of were abused kids. There’s sexual abuse and

alcohol, and just the general decline in the cultural knowledge of

what love is. ” In 1950, for every 100 children born, he says, 12 had

divorced parents or were born out of wedlock. In 1992, that number had

quadrupled to 60 children for every 100 born. Throw abortion into the

mix, and the number shoots up to 92 per 100. (4)

John Dilulio asserts that “each generation of crime-prone boys

has been about three times as dangerous as the one before it.” And, he

argues, the downhill slide into utter moral bankruptcy is about to

speed up because each generation of youth criminals is growing up in

more extreme conditions of “moral poverty” than the one before it. Mr.

Dilulio defines moral poverty as “growing up surrounded by deviant,

delinquent, and criminal adults in abusive, violence-ridden,

fatherless, Godless, and jobless settings.”

The “super-predator”, as told to a Washington press gathering

by DiIulio, is a breed of criminal so dangerous that even the older

inmates working their way through life sentences complain that their

youthful counterparts are out of control. He describes these teen

criminals as “radically present-oriented”. Because their time horizon

may be as short as the next guard’s shift, they have no capacity to

defer gratification for the sake of the future. When these “super-

predators” were asked by DiIulio or other inmates if they would commit

their crimes again, most answer, “Why not?” DiIulio also says, they

are “radically self-regarding incapable of feeling joy or pain at the

joy or pain of others.” (7)

According to Dilulio, today’s juvenile super-predators are

driven by two profound developmental defects. They are radically

present-oriented, perceiving no relationship between action and

reaction–reward or punishment–and they are radically self-regarding.

Nothing is sacred to them. They live only for what brings them

pleasure and a sense of power, placing “zero value on the lives of

their victims.”

Ultimately, concludes Mr. Dilulio, only a return to religion

will restore to youth the sense of personal responsibility that leads

to moral behavior. He cites a growing body of scientific evidence from

a variety of academic disciplines that indicates that churches

ameliorate or cure many severe socioeconomic ills. “Let [the liberal

elite] argue church-state issues…all the way to the next funeral of

an innocent kid caught in the crossfire,” he says. “Our guiding

principle should be, `Build churches, not jails’–or we will reap the

whirlwind of our own moral bankruptcy.” (5)

DiIulio’s “super predators” are born of abject “moral

poverty,” which he defines as: The poverty of being without loving,

capable, responsible adults who teach you right from wrong. It is the

poverty of being without parents, guardians, relatives, friends,

teachers, coaches, clergy and others who habituate you to feel joy at

others’ joy, pain at others’ pain, happiness when you do right,

remorse when you do wrong. It is the poverty of growing up in the

virtual absence of people who teach these lessons by their own

everyday example, and who insist that you follow suit and behave

accordingly. In the extreme, it is the poverty of growing up

surrounded by deviant, delinquent, and criminal adults in chaotic,

dysfunctional, fatherless, Godless, and jobless settings where drug

abuse and child abuse are twins, and self-respecting young men

literally aspire to get away with murder.

Scholars who study drugs and crime are only now beginning to

realize the social consequences of raising so many children in abject

moral poverty. The need to rebuild and resurrect the civil society

(families, churches, community groups) of high-crime, drug-plagued

urban neighborhoods is not an intellectual or research hypothesis that

requires testing. It’s a moral and social imperative that requires

doing – and doing now. (9)

It can be assumed -quite logically- by the lay person that the

“super predator” is actually a young psychopath or psychotic. While

these terms have become largely interchangeable, thanks in large part

to Hollywood, there are distinct differences between the psychopath,

the psychotic, and the Super Predator.

British Columbia Psychologist Robert Hare, has done some

ground breaking research into the study of psychopaths and has found

that psychopaths tend to underutilize regions of the brain that

integrate memories and emotions. These findings helped support long

held theories that the destructive nature of psychopaths were

neurobiological in nature. But, aside from the neurobiological aspects

of psychopathic behavior: The psychopath knows right from wrong; they

are quite often charming, glib and impulsive individuals. They often

brag about grandiose life ambitions, but often lack the skills or the

discipline to achieve their goals. Psychopaths are easily bored and

crave immediate gratification. It has been found that psychopaths,

quite often, have very high intelligence quotients. When caught in a

lie, the psychopath will shift blame, or switch topics with no

apparent embarrassment. They do not form deep or meaningful

relationships, and often end up hurting people who get close to them.

While they are intellectually aware of societies rules, they feel no

guilt when they break them. (8)

While many of the aspects described above fit the profile of

the “Super Predator”, there are some important differences. The

“super predator” are almost completely without ambition, they are

often of below average intelligence, and they do not recognize

-intellectually or otherwise- any rules of society. While psychopaths

and the “super-predator” both share the inability to feel emotion, the

psychopath can feign it to achieve a result, the “super predator”

seems completely incapable of even that. More interestingly, the

“super predator” is remarkably candid. They will more often than not,

admit not only to their crimes, but as to the why, and as to the fact

that they did nothing wrong and would do it again.

Psychopathy does not always -in fact quite the contrary-

manifest itself in criminality. In fact, a psychopath could be a

highly functioning and highly successful individual in society. In

contrast, the “super predator” lacks the intelligence or the “masking

capabilities” of the psychopath to achieve success outside of the

criminal world. (9)

The “super predator” is not psychotic. Psychotics are largely

out of touch with reality. They suffer from delusions, hallucinations,

or other disordered states. They are often found not guilty of crimes

they commit by reason of insanity. (8)

Today, especially in the inner cities, children, in the age

ranges of 5 to 9 yrs of age, are all to often left to their own

devices. They spend much of their time hanging out on the streets or

soaking up violent TV shows and violent rap music, they have easy

access to guns and drugs, and can be extremely dangerous. By the year

2005 they will be teenagers–a group that tends to be, in the view of

Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox, “temporary

sociopaths…. impulsive and immature.”

There are currently 39 million children under 10 in the U.S.,

more than at any time since the 1950s. “This is the calm before the

crime storm,” says Fox. “So long as we fool ourselves in thinking that

we’re winning the war against crime, we may be blind sided by this

bloodbath of teenage violence that is lurking in the future.” Nearly

all the factors that contribute to youth crime -single-parent

households, child abuse, deteriorating inner-city schools – are

getting worse. At the same time, government is becoming less, not

more, interested in spending money to help break the cycle of poverty

and crime. (6)

—

Some Statistics On The Rise Of Juvenile Crime.

* The number of juvenile murderers tripled between 1984 and 1994.

* Youthful murderers using guns increased four-fold over the same

period.

* Juvenile gang killings have nearly quadrupled between 1980 and 1992.

* In 1994, eight in ten juvenile murderers used a firearm, up from

five in ten in 1983.

* The number of juveniles murdered increased 82 percent between 1984

and 1994.

* The nationwide juvenile arrest rate for violent crimes increased 50

percent between 1988 and 1994.

[ Source: U.S. Dept. Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency More Statistics ]

* Over the next ten years, the population of 14 to 17 year olds will

grow 23 percent, and the current generation of juveniles has already

brought us the worst juvenile crime rates in recorded history.

* Since 1965, the juvenile arrest rate has more than tripled, and over

the last ten years the homicide rate has more than doubled among 14 to

17 year olds.

* During the 1980s, the white juvenile crime rate grew twice as fast

as the black juvenile crime rate, and from 1983 to 1992, the arrest

rate for murder grew 166 percent among blacks, but also grew 94

percent among whites. The increasing juvenile murder rate coincides

with an increase in “stranger murders,” suggesting juvenile predators

are less discriminating in their targets.

* While in the past most murders occurred between family members and

friends, the FBI recently reported that 53 percent of homicides are

committed by strangers.

* “Stranger murders” are now four times as common as killings by

family members.

* Perpetrators of stranger murders have a better than 80 percent

chance of not being punished.

Source: Andrew Peyton Thomas (Assistant Attorney General for Arizona)

—

Local police, prosecutors, and inner-city preachers know that

the kids doing the violent crimes are more impulsively violent and

remorseless than ever. For instance, Philadelphia District Attorney

Lynne Abraham who sits on the Council on Crime in America, speaks of

the frightening reality of elementary school kids who pack guns

instead of lunches. Likewise, Dan Coburn, a former Superior Court

Justice and Public Defender in New Jersey, recently wrote that “This

new wrote horde from hell kills, maims, and terrorizes merely to

become known, or for no reason at all. These teens have no fear of

dying and no concept of living.”

Even maximum-security prisoners agree. When asked by Diiulio

what was triggering the explosion of violence among today’s young

street criminals, a group of long- and life-term New Jersey prisoners

did not voice the conventional explanations such as economic poverty

or joblessness. Instead, these hardened men cited the absence of

people – family, adults, teachers, preachers, coaches- who would care

enough about young males to nurture and discipline them. In the

vacuum, drug dealers and “gansta rappers” serve as role models. “I was

a bad-ass street gladiator,” one convicted murderer said, “but these

kids are stone-cold predators.” (10)

Even more shocking than the sheer volume of violent juvenile

crime is the brutality of the crime committed for trivial motives: a

pair of sneakers, a jacket, a real or imagined insult, a momentary

cheap thrill. For example:

—

* A 59-year-old man out on a morning stroll in Lake Tahoe was fatally

shot four times by teenagers “looking for someone to scare.” The

police say the four teenagers – just 15 and 16 years old – were

“thrill shooting.”

* A 12-year-old and two other youths were charged with kidnapping a

57-year-old man and taking a joy ride in his Toyota. As the man

pleaded for his life, the juveniles shot him to death.

* A 14-year-old boy was murdered while trying to reclaim a $2,500

stereo system he had received from his grandfather. Five juveniles,

ranging in age from 15 through 17 years, were charged with the crime.

(10)

—

Profiles

In every community, roughly 2 percent of the juvenile offender

population is responsible for up to 60 percent of the violent juvenile

crime. Only 25 to 35 juveniles in every 100,000 members of the

population will engage in criminal activity that matches the Serious

Habitual Offender pattern. Based on criteria developed by the Reagan

team at the Department of Justice, this means that 0.03 percent to

0.04 percent of all juveniles between 14 and 17 years old will be

SHOs.

A profile of a Serious Habitual Offender was collected from

data collected and analyzed by the Reagan Administration team at the

U.S. Department of Justice in the 1980s presents a graphic portrait of

the serious habitual offender: The typical SHO is male, 15 years and

six months old. He has been arrested 11 to 14 times, exclusive of

status offenses, and five times for felonies. He comes from a

dysfunctional family; and in 46 percent of cases, at least one of his

parents also has an arrest history. He has received long-term and

continuing social services from as many as six different community

service agencies, including family, youth, mental health, social

services, school, juvenile, or police authorities, and continues to

drain these resources for years before he is finally incarcerated as a

career criminal.

The typical SHO’s family history follows a classic pattern of

social pathologies: 53 percent of his siblings also have a history of

arrest; and in 59 percent of these cases, there is no father figure in

the home. The absence of a father is particularly destructive for

boys; only 2 percent of SHOs are female. Furthermore, 68 percent of

these offenders have committed crimes of violence, 15 percent have a

history of committing sex crimes, and 51 percent have a reported

missing or runaway record.

If a broken family characterized by physical or sexual abuse

is an early indicator of criminal behavior, then virtually all of

these serious habitual offenders fit this category. These findings are

consistent with the Heritage Foundation’s widely reported analysis of

the true root causes of violent crime, particularly the crimogenic

conditions associated with broken or dysfunctional families. (10)

—

* SHOs do not consider the crimes they have committed to be all that

bad.

* Forty-five percent are gang members, 64 percent associate with other

serious habitual offenders, and 75 percent abuse drugs.

—

Recent studies show that illegal drug use among the young is

on the rise and a significant majority of all present day SHOs

-”Super Predators”- use or sell illegal drugs and often become

addicted themselves. Illegal drug use and alcohol abuse tend to be

regular features of their criminal conduct. Drugs, in particular, are

part of the criminal scene of these juvenile offenders, and the use

and sale of drugs contributes significantly to a SHO’s other criminal

activity. The need to purchase illegal drugs, combined with the warped

hedonism of the addict, shapes and drives much of the criminal

activity of this class of criminals.

Conclusion:

Juvenile crime and violence is on the rise. Many

criminologists are calling it an epidemic, a ticking time bomb, the

calm before the storm and a long descent into night, you choose the

cliche’. The reasons for this rise in teen crime seems to have its

roots not so much in poverty as it does to poverty of values. Experts

like John DiIulio and James Q.Wilson believe that the cure lies in a

renaissance of personal responsibility, and a reassertion of

responsibility over rights and community over egoism.

There is definitely a need for more study on the new breed of

teen criminal -”the Super Predator”- But we don’t need yet another

library full of jargon-riddled criminology studies to tell us what the

Roman sages knew: what society does to children, children will do to

society.

While most in the education as well as the psychological

fields blanch Whenever the terms values, church, responsibility, and

family, are bandied about. But the inescapable reality is that since

the sixties, when these terms were castigated and relegated to “being

quaint”, we have witnessed an incredibly fast and pernicious rise in

the types of pathologies that have accompanied the decline of the

family structure. While I am by no means a religious zealot, it seems

to me that government has been a poor substitute for the family and

the church in teaching basic core values. Government certainly has a

role to play financially, but the strictures and the applications of

any type of largess need to come from Community leaders or clergy

members who have a real stake in the community.

While it is tragic that there seem to be a large number of

“lost youths” mired in a life of crime and violence, the safety of the

community, especially the children in the community, should be the

primary concern. While I agree with John DiIulio, that we need more

churches, I also feel that if more jails need to be built to house

young thugs, build them. If children as young as 7, 8, or 9 yrs of age

need to be incarcerated like adults, do it. While this may seem harsh,

I believe that it is the only way to prevent further decay. With

harsher enforcement of laws towards violent minors enforced, attention

can be paid to addressing the ills that create the problem; family

decay.

More attention needs to be paid to the people who actually

live in the communities affected. We must deal with this problem of

the “super predator” teen thug swiftly and harshly, before it’s too

late to save the children in danger of falling in with or becoming

victims of crime themselves.

—

Bibliography

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FOUNDATION HOME PAGE

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Nation’s Business, 02-01-1997, pp 24.

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The Washington Times, 11-17-1996, pp 31.

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Report /Western Report, 06-17-1996, pp 27.

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01-15-1996, pp 52+.

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Times, 05-02-1995, pp E-1.

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9- William J. Bennett, John J. DiIulio, Jr., and John P. Walters BODY